Immunohistochemical expression of CD8, CTLA4, and PD-L1 in NSCLC of smokers versus non smokers and its effect on prognosis

Abstract

Background: Identifying hig- risk non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients is the most contentious area in lung pathology for reducing cancer-related morbidity and mortality.
Aim of the work: Was to investigate the immunohistochemical expression of CD8, CTLA4, and PD-L1 among different NSCLC histopathological variants and it’s correlation with different clinicopathological variables.
Material and Methods: Expression of CD8, CTLA4, & PD-L1 was evaluated immunohistochemically in 45 NSCLC cases.
Results: Higher expression of CD8 tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) was significantly associated with better progression-free survival (PFS). The expression of CTLA4&PD-L1 on tumor cells was significantly associated with lower PFS. However, smoking status of the studied cases showed no statistically significant correlation with expression of any of the studied immunohistochemical markers.
Conclusions: Immunostaining for CD8, CTLA4, and PD-L1 could have a major role in the anticipation of PFS of NSCLC cases regardless of their smoking status.